WE have had many discussions on SI about what it means to be a fundamentalist. Your definition might not fit mine, and vice versa. We generally recognize Gospel-believing churches as evangelical, conservative evangelical, fundamental; I would add a fourth category: extremely fundamental.

By my definition, here is a rough breakdown that has many exceptions:

A Hyles-Anderson KJV only type church would be extremely fundamental.

An IFCA or Grace Brethren church and most independent Baptist churches would be fundamental.

Call it Canticles or The Song of Songs or the Song of Solomon — call it what you will — but what is it about?

The ancient Hebrews understood it allegorically, representing the love of the Lord for Israel.

The ancient Christians understood it allegorically, representing the love of Jesus for the church.

The main issue of the Council of Jamnia (Yahneh), some say, was to decide whether it belonged to the cannon.

The Jews would not let children read the text until boys made their Bar Mitzvah because of its suggestive language.

Most of us would say that a lot of what is called expository preaching isn’t. Spurgeon is a good case in point. He may deal with a text, but not a portion. Others use the text as an excuse to preach on a topic.

So what do we mean by expository preaching? The point of the sermon is the point of the text, usually involving 3 verses to a chapter. The text is outlined in some fashion, its meaning and intent explained, and then applied. That definition, while unpolished, should do for our poll.

We are talking about Bible-believing fundamental and evangelical churches in this question.

Some churches have never stopped singing hymns (and we can sloppily include Gospel songs within in the word “hymns” in this broad discussion). Some have continued to sing hymns exclusively, others (like ours) have taken a blended approach. Some churches have Totally forsaken the congregational singing of hymns or have almost totally forsaken them.

Some folks might well say, “all the time,” or “whatever seasons we are in.”

And, of course, the comment “it depends” is always understood. Business can vary year by year. For example, we once had three people move on to glory in one day, an hour and a half a part. Between funerals and funeral dinners, that was a busy couple of weeks!

So we are asking for the typical. This cannot be very scientific, for perception and reality (we know) do not always match. So if you are mistaken, that is okay!

Short term missions trips make people FEEL like they are making a difference, and they sometimes do for a certain ministry. Many of us would argue that the millions spent would do more good if channeled toward career missionaries who remain on the field to actually develop disciples, but that is a different concern.

A lot of Christians look to Fox News for a more conservative, more Christian-values-friendly news network. This is for better or worse, depending upon your viewpoint.

The network is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Some suggest that Rupert Murdoch’s daughters-in-law are pushing his sons (and future heirs) toward the political left.

Some of the godliest people struggled with depression. Elijah was one of them. Whether Jesus, as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” was ever depressed may be a matter of semantics.

Depression can come from various sources, IMO. Some people are genetically predisposed to operate in a mildly depressed state — at least most of the time. Others rarely struggle with depression.

Genetics, body chemistry, anger, frustration, disappointment, sad circumstances, pain, stress, weather, unhappiness, sunshine levels….a lot of possible issues.

The Five Points of Calvinism were never listed by John Calvin, but by his followers. Still, they have come to define the Calvinistic viewpoint regarding salvation.

Many of us (myself included) would say that we do not follow any particular post-apostolic church leader, but we will admit to being influenced or at least impressed with the Biblical accuracy of some on some points. What impresses us is their ability to accurately summarize or organize Biblical teaching.

Although it is always hard to get an accurate assessment, how many times would you guess you have read through the entire Bible?

This should be based upon reading programs — whether from Genesis to Revelation or some other schedule — in addition to personal guesses.

For example, if you preach/teach through the Word, you might be reading through the entire Bible doing a survey course, etc.